I realise why my throat is so sore. It takes me back to when I used to teach in the UK, as soon as nine students are quiet the other two start or they are in a world of their own and you need everyone to listen and respond. Today I just wanted the kids to point at something, in theory pointing is something that they covered two years ago, but not one of them understands the concept. I have read somewhere that pointing is rude in this culture so whether that is why or of course my predecessor could tell them and Russian so some of them might have understood more than hearing it in English, but after five minutes I finally got the group pointing at the window, pointing at the floor then pointing at what needed pointing at, except of course the two at the end!! I am exhausted already and it is only 11.30.
However, to be fair yesterday we had a lovely afternoon. One of the teachers was off sick, so my poor colleague was teaching both groups together and in the afternoon she sensibly kept the kids out playing games together. It was really lovely joining in with them.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Unexpected hazards.
When I first looked into working in Kyrgyzstan everything I read was positive: beautiful scenery, nice people. Then I accepted the job and then it seemed that everything I read negative: earthquakes, rabies, freezing cold weather.As a woman with M.E I have to a certain extent lost my career. I had to go part time at the college with all that meant in terms of status and pay. But I was also determined as my health improved that it would not stop me fulfilling my aim of working abroad. Full time employment in Senegal was 8 to 1 everyday except Friday when we finished at 1. I also had to do a couple of afternoons. Provided I pop home and sleep or go an have a leisurely lunch, not do much over the weekend, except my prep, I was just about okay - my periods of sickness mainly coincided the holidays and because there was a lot of staff all I had to do was text in and say I cannot manage it today and I knew someone would cover me. I was never made to feel bad about taking time off sick and usually struggled in even after a terrible stomach bug that had me sick in the shower, the day that the inspectors were coming in.
Since then I have had a patchwork of work. At the ROH I sometimes had double shifts and would pay for them later on in the week and recently I have often had to do 6/7 days work a week, but often short days with a break then more work and bit by bit I have been doing over 30 hours a week most of the time which is why I felt that provide that the days were not too long at Bilimkana I should be able to sort of return to a career job. I was upfront about the condition, or thought I was and that I felt I could try a proper job provided the length of days were not too long. I now have my after class schedule, starting from tomorrow I will not finish till 4.40. I start (admittedly later than the others) usually at 9. So it is the long day I have been fearing ever since I got here. M.E is not something I have a choice about, push myself too hard, and my health keels over, but I do not want it to stop me either. So I am going to give it a go. It will be more longer continuous hours and days than I have done in a long while, but I will try.
Meanwhile the teacher who does all the printing and promised me that he would show me how to print everything last Friday (but then did not) has gone to Biskek and no one knows how long for/. At the weekend I discovered that some of the rubbish being dumped locally is asbestos. I tell you that made me want to just get on the nearest plane and fly home. But I am always more fragile when ill. And I have a horrible feeling I just saw raw meat being cut on the same board that might be used for other foods. So lots of things that I had not expected even with the things that I thought I had expected. Meanwhile by tomorrow one of the rooms in the still being built school will be ready for my first kruzhki class - or after school class. HELP!!!
Since then I have had a patchwork of work. At the ROH I sometimes had double shifts and would pay for them later on in the week and recently I have often had to do 6/7 days work a week, but often short days with a break then more work and bit by bit I have been doing over 30 hours a week most of the time which is why I felt that provide that the days were not too long at Bilimkana I should be able to sort of return to a career job. I was upfront about the condition, or thought I was and that I felt I could try a proper job provided the length of days were not too long. I now have my after class schedule, starting from tomorrow I will not finish till 4.40. I start (admittedly later than the others) usually at 9. So it is the long day I have been fearing ever since I got here. M.E is not something I have a choice about, push myself too hard, and my health keels over, but I do not want it to stop me either. So I am going to give it a go. It will be more longer continuous hours and days than I have done in a long while, but I will try.
Meanwhile the teacher who does all the printing and promised me that he would show me how to print everything last Friday (but then did not) has gone to Biskek and no one knows how long for/. At the weekend I discovered that some of the rubbish being dumped locally is asbestos. I tell you that made me want to just get on the nearest plane and fly home. But I am always more fragile when ill. And I have a horrible feeling I just saw raw meat being cut on the same board that might be used for other foods. So lots of things that I had not expected even with the things that I thought I had expected. Meanwhile by tomorrow one of the rooms in the still being built school will be ready for my first kruzhki class - or after school class. HELP!!!
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Tolstoy
I have just realised that the entry I made this morning says Saturday, but it was written on Sunday so that is a bit confusing, probably because I still have this computer on UK time. I also have one phone on UK time, one on Kyrgys time. Anyway I am feeling a bit more human, but have only slept, read and pottered so wanted to share this extract from the book on Tolstoy that I am reading:
"Armed with Arnold's letter (Thomas Arnold), Tolstoy set off for the schools. It shows how much he valued his days with the London children that he kept mementoes for the rest of his life." (Wilson 88, p162) So what we are attempting having visitors to Bilimkana and hoping that will inspire some of the children is old hat. Tolstoy also later went onto write apparently a very good ABC for the children in his family and school.
Apparently in his early days Tolstoy had not worried too much about the serfs, but according to his biographer at that time the level of slavery in Russia was greater than that in the US. Having recently read The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, which is about slavery, that is quite a sobering thought as conditions in America were so horrendous.Whilst reading about the laws at the time in the states where merely helping a slave try and escape a family could be fined huge sums of money I was however, reminded of our own immigration laws where even innocent drivers can be fined if a migrant stows away on their lorries.
"Armed with Arnold's letter (Thomas Arnold), Tolstoy set off for the schools. It shows how much he valued his days with the London children that he kept mementoes for the rest of his life." (Wilson 88, p162) So what we are attempting having visitors to Bilimkana and hoping that will inspire some of the children is old hat. Tolstoy also later went onto write apparently a very good ABC for the children in his family and school.
Apparently in his early days Tolstoy had not worried too much about the serfs, but according to his biographer at that time the level of slavery in Russia was greater than that in the US. Having recently read The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, which is about slavery, that is quite a sobering thought as conditions in America were so horrendous.Whilst reading about the laws at the time in the states where merely helping a slave try and escape a family could be fined huge sums of money I was however, reminded of our own immigration laws where even innocent drivers can be fined if a migrant stows away on their lorries.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Thank you BBC
Last night I am pleased to say the internet was working so I lay in my sick bed listening to plays and woman's hour: it definitely got me through the night. It is again gloriously sunny here it is hard to imagine how it will be when we cannot just sit in the sun, but right now I am going to put my washing out and then go back to bed.
Friday, 27 September 2013
Ambling memories.
This morning it was cloudy when I woke but during breakfast the clouds began to lift and the sun on the mountains brought out the golds and greens. There is no smell of woodsmoke, which I used to love, but in other ways it reminds me of when I used to visit Ambleside in the Lake District, where my friend Jane used to run an Oxenden Venture hostel for Vietnamese refugees. For me it was idyllic, a mixture of visiting a friend, getting to know the Vietnamese and a beautiful location. I remember the first time I visited, walking in a seeing a man with a machete chopping up meat, to put in a pot over a gas cylinder cooker. Once the Queen was passing near by and all of us lined the road to greet her. I swear she did a double take when she saw her latest residents and the Christmas I had there was one of the best ever. There were about 19 of us. Jane and I, the Vietnamese and our Bhutanese friends and one of their friends, who was from Venezuela. I cooked the turkey, about the first and only time I have cooked Christmas dinner on mass, which was passable, and the rest of the food was delicious Vietnamese food. When it snowed, everyone rushed out to enjoy it, making me realise that if it is a cold winter here it could still be nice.
Anyway as you can see the washing has been done, it is a beautiful day here so even though I feel rather rough ( very sore throat - too much vodka or talking) so I am going out to collect somethings for an Autumn collage.
Anyway as you can see the washing has been done, it is a beautiful day here so even though I feel rather rough ( very sore throat - too much vodka or talking) so I am going out to collect somethings for an Autumn collage.
A few cultural bits.
I am sat in the dinning room listening to You and Yours so know that the weather is quite good in the UK. Today started beautifully but it is now raining here. In my new accommodation I cannot listen to the radio which is why I have come over here to catch up with the news - I guess not having heard the news for a week makes me feel more just here, rather than being an English person abroad. But here I am re-connecting to the UK.
It has been a quiet day today. Just working on schemes of work, so thought I would take this opportunity to say something about my brief observations of the culture here.
1) People do seem to be very kind. The staff here have been working all hours, every day, but are never anything but kind, supportive and courteous. So far everyone I have met has been very kind.
2) The rooms we stay in are only lockable from the inside. So when I go to work, my room is left open and that was even the case in Biskek.
3) People often do not like to sit on the ground, rather they will hunker down; sometimes someone on their own, just sat hanging there so to speak. I guess it is like us standing around. The loos at school are mix of sit down and hunker down but loos on the farm lands are hunker down.
4) Shaking hands is very important to people locally especially between men.
5) We use beds in the hotel but because we are full the local guide had to sleep in the house were I am now staying and he just used the old form of bedding, a sort of futon really, on the floor. But they are nice and colourful.
6) Islam does not seem to have a huge impact on alcohol consumption.
7) Alcohol consumption is part of the reason for the high road accident rate and the large difference between male and female average age of longevity.
Anway: the rain has stopped, the clouds are lifting revealing the mountains again and the staff are getting the room ready for dinner. So I will leave things there for today.
It has been a quiet day today. Just working on schemes of work, so thought I would take this opportunity to say something about my brief observations of the culture here.
1) People do seem to be very kind. The staff here have been working all hours, every day, but are never anything but kind, supportive and courteous. So far everyone I have met has been very kind.
2) The rooms we stay in are only lockable from the inside. So when I go to work, my room is left open and that was even the case in Biskek.
3) People often do not like to sit on the ground, rather they will hunker down; sometimes someone on their own, just sat hanging there so to speak. I guess it is like us standing around. The loos at school are mix of sit down and hunker down but loos on the farm lands are hunker down.
4) Shaking hands is very important to people locally especially between men.
5) We use beds in the hotel but because we are full the local guide had to sleep in the house were I am now staying and he just used the old form of bedding, a sort of futon really, on the floor. But they are nice and colourful.
6) Islam does not seem to have a huge impact on alcohol consumption.
7) Alcohol consumption is part of the reason for the high road accident rate and the large difference between male and female average age of longevity.
Anway: the rain has stopped, the clouds are lifting revealing the mountains again and the staff are getting the room ready for dinner. So I will leave things there for today.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
A fairy tale training session.
When I was in Senegal one of the best weeks was the Stage, a whole week of teacher training with lots of other teachers. It was how I met fellow English teachers and saw some inspirational examples of teaching. It was all in French of course so I lost a lot, but it is amazing how when you have the context some information goes in. And today even though I have had a translator the two hours training I have just had have been excellent for example how to get young children to engage with material, ask questions (which they do not like to do) and see material from a different angle. We were encouraged for example to take apart Aladdin, which I could read in the Cyrillic, from the point of view of the sound, heart and eyes of the piece. Seeing my colleagues acting out their part was lovely. The training was done by our I think Director of Studies (he was properly introduced so sorry that I am not sure) who has been here all week to try and find ways to support the school and ensure that what we offer is good. As part of his work he interviewed all the second year students. When I was at HRC Ofsted would do something similar, but it was very interesting to see his gentle approach and how the children responded. They were talking in Russian which is the children's second language (English will be their third) and offered a chance to assess their progress as well as how satisfied they are with their education.
I attach a picture of my students in front of some of the work that they did today. Two classes each did half the work representing material from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Then when I got home the neighbouring children were out playing with their lovely hand made kites. I now know a use for old video tape.
I attach a picture of my students in front of some of the work that they did today. Two classes each did half the work representing material from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Then when I got home the neighbouring children were out playing with their lovely hand made kites. I now know a use for old video tape.
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